B and T-cell epitopes prediction of the P40 antigen for developing Mycoplasma Agalactiae vaccine Using Bioinformatic Tools

Agalactia is a disease affecting small ruminants which is caused by a mycoplasma agalactiae. P40 protein is the most important surface antigen in mycoplasma agalactiae bacteria that can be used to design recombinant vaccine. The objective of present study was obtain the bioinformatic characteristics of p40 antigen. A wide range of online prediction softwares were used to predict B and Tcells epitopes, secondary and tertiary structure and antigenicity. Applied bioinformatic approaches used in this study was validated by comparing results with four different experimental epitope predictions. Bioinformatic analysis, identified Bcell epitopes located at amino acid residues 2440, 98114, 218240, 251265 and 333350, and Tcell epitopes at amino acids 525, 86105, 198215, 143153, 214223 and 337345. All final predicted B and Tcell epitopes had antigenic ability except 525, 98144, 141157, 199215 and 333350 residuals. Finally, bioinformatic analysis showed that these regions had proper epitopes characteristics and may be useful for developing recombinant vaccines.